Traveling Rocket thread

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boatgeek said:
Don’t go buying new tube on my account (unless you were looking for an excuse! 😀). An estimate based on what would fit in the MMT is just fine.
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My estimate is that folding the blue-and-orange chute with a hole in the center (the one that is attached to the rocket) to fit in a 24mm tube is going to be a tall order. The seams and shroud lines interfere with my packing and make it really thick on one or both ends, at least when packed like an Estes chute typically is. I don’t know if anyone has a superior method that I just haven’t seen. If you’ve got one in mind, send a video or a diagram.

But for a 24mm tube with this method, the best bet would be to not fold it down, just make it as long and thin as possible. Pack shroud lines to taste. I don’t have a ruler handy (darn thing is see-through and is playing games with me at the moment), so I compared it to easily-referenceed dimensions on the Wanderer 2.0. It’s equivalent to the length of the body tube plus the length of the nose cone shoulder, so hopefully that’s useful. I’ll get more precise data when I can.

That kind of length obviously won’t work in this rocket. You might as well try to load it up with a 6-grain CTI casing.

I wouldn’t want to try to pack this chute into anything less than a BT-55 or equivalent.
 
smstachwick said:
My estimate is that folding the blue-and-orange chute with a hole in the center (the one that is attached to the rocket) to fit in a 24mm tube is going to be a tall order. The seams and shroud lines interfere with my packing and make it really thick on one or both ends, at least when packed like an Estes chute typically is. I don’t know if anyone has a superior method that I just haven’t seen. If you’ve got one in mind, send a video or a diagram.

But for a 24mm tube with this method, the best bet would be to not fold it down, just make it as long and thin as possible. Pack shroud lines to taste. I don’t have a ruler handy (darn thing is see-through and is playing games with me at the moment), so I compared it to easily-referenceed dimensions on the Wanderer 2.0. It’s equivalent to the length of the body tube plus the length of the nose cone shoulder, so hopefully that’s useful. I’ll get more precise data when I can.

That kind of length obviously won’t work in this rocket. You might as well try to load it up with a 6-grain CTI casing.

I wouldn’t want to try to pack this chute into anything less than a BT-55 or equivalent.
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Thank you!
 
So I opened up the thumb drives, and HOLY COW there is a ton of information packed on here. The one labeled “The Wanderer” has all the sims, flight data, and 3D printing files, as expected, but the unmarked one, apparently from @krusty , is a treasure trove. None of its content is related to the project specifically, as far as I could tell, but all of it of immense historical and technical interest. You could really get lost in all this.

Aside from estimating performance on my available motors, I don’t really know where to start with all of it, even just sticking strictly to the Wanderer’s drive. I guess for now I would just be happy with a bit of guidance on activating and hooking up the FlightSketch Mini, getting some good flight data to contribute once I get to the range, and uploading it to the drive in an orderly manner. Just knowing a few pitfalls to avoid would be of great help.

Normally I’d just look this up myself, and I will, but I know myself and I know that without assistance narrowing my focus further and identifying a first step, I’m only likely to procrastinate and/or make preventable mistakes.

EDIT: Actually, now that I’ve read the documentation from manufacturer, my most obvious problem at the current moment is, to somebody who does not routinely work with small electronics boards like this, a completely unintuitive power toggle switch that provides no user feedback on whether the unit is active. I can slide it very slightly to either side and I can feel it clicking with purpose through my fingertip, but there is no label to indicate which position is which.

(That’s my best attempt at engineer-speak for “I don’t know how to work the power switch, so I can’t tell if it’s on.”)

I cannot connect it to the app despite my phone’s Bluetooth being active, nor can I clearly identify or successfully operate any mechanism to release the battery from what I suspect is its housing.

(I can’t get the battery out to check if I’ve got a dead one.)
 
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smstachwick said:
So I opened up the thumb drives, and HOLY COW there is a ton of information packed on here. The one labeled “The Wanderer” has all the sims, flight data, and 3D printing files, as expected, but the unmarked one, apparently from @krusty , is a treasure trove. None of its content is related to the project specifically, as far as I could tell, but all of it of immense historical and technical interest. You could really get lost in all this.
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The second one is one that I sent, before the "original" got mailed out. Krusty (Sasha) sent me a DVD a long time ago. He was selling kits. One of them was the "Ballistic Chicken" that I bought from him. I'll take it to Airfest this year. The missile pics and other stuff were bits and pieces I picked up going through the web at night instead of sleeping. Good to see it's still with the rocket!

Speaking of Airfest, it would be great if I could launch it again this year. Dave, you in on this, too?

@dhbarr and I last year at Airfest...
IMG_0029.jpg
 
Here's the doc for the FS Mini. https://flightsketch.com/media/FSMiniGuide3.pdf If something doesn't make sense, ask. You'll need a free app on your "mobile device" that you take to the field and to upload data to the shared online log, you'll need to create an account.

One thing that many people do when uploading to the online log is NOT fill in the title and description. That makes it really hard to tell what the log entry is when browsing it. See https://flightsketch.com/flights/ to see what that log looks like if you're not familiar with it. Here's the most recent Wanderer flight that I could find by perusing titles in the log: https://flightsketch.com/flights/3557/

I was out with @boatgeek when he flew it. This is my flight: https://flightsketch.com/flights/3222/
 
BEC said:
Here's the doc for the FS Mini. https://flightsketch.com/media/FSMiniGuide3.pdf If something doesn't make sense, ask. You'll need an app on your "mobile device" that you take to the field and to upload to the shared online log, create an account.

One thing that many people do when uploading to the online log is NOT fill in the title and description. That makes it really hard to tell what the log entry is when browsing it. See https://flightsketch.com/flights/ to see what that log looks like if you're not familiar with it. Here's the most recent Wanderer flight that I could find by perusing titles in the log: https://flightsketch.com/flights/3557/
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Thank you for the link. I located that on the manufacturer’s website before making my update. I’m guessing our Internet typing delay prevented you from seeing it.

It does not appear that the doc is of any use for hardware questions. Just my luck that my dad is a software guy, I’ve heard his joke about this a thousand times….
 
The hardware is pretty straightforward and I'm amused (and a bit embarrassed) that the docs don't address actually turning the thing off. To turn it on, just press that little pushbutton switch momentarily. The LED will blink once. To turn it off, press and hold the button for about two seconds. The LED will flash three times, then three times again. It will turn itself off after four hours, I believe, if it is quiet that long.

You don't need to do anything on the Bluetooth side on your phone or tablet...no pairing is required. Once you have it connected to the app, look at the voltage display and watch it for a bit...as it will fluctuate some as the Mini does various tasks. As long as the displayed voltage stays above ~2.4V at all times, there is nothing more to do but to go fly it. If it drops below that point much, then a new cell is probably a good idea. I don't know if spares are going around with the Wanderer or not. When it was in this area it was in @boatgeek's custody and I just met him at Sixty Acres to fly it, so I don't know what all is in the travel box.

Added: You're right - I didn't see your update. The switch is not a slide, it is a pushbutton. Push it toward the body. One flash, it's on. Hold it for a few seconds, three flashes, then three more, it's off. You can release it after the first three flashes.

Taking the cell out requires a small screwdriver to pry the plastic part of the cell carrier out of the holder. It takes more force than you think it should....but don't change it unless you need to.Screen Shot 2022-07-18 at 10.44.59 PM.png
 
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BEC said:
The hardware is pretty straightforward and I'm amused (and a bit embarrassed) that the docs don't address actually turning the thing off. To turn it on, just press that little pushbutton switch momentarily. The LED will blink once. To turn it off, press and hold the button for about two seconds. The LED will flash three times, then three times again.

You don't need to do anything on the Bluetooth side on your phone or tablet...no pairing is required. Once you have it connected to the app, look at the voltage display and watch it for a bit...as it will fluctuate some as the Mini does various tasks. As long as the displayed voltage stays above ~2.4V at all times, there is nothing more to do but to go fly it. If it drops below that point much, then a new cell is probably a good idea. I don't know if spares are going around with the Wanderer or not. When it was in this area it was in @boatgeek's custody and I just met him at Sixty Acres to fly it, so I don't know what all is in the travel box.
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I have spares, a few did come in the box. The problem is getting what I am assuming is the enclosure, on the reverse side, open.

1BD32C0D-B81A-413A-999A-5CF6EC8D9F5D.jpeg
No reasonable amount of fingernail sliding or prying has revealed any kind of door, cover or tray. If anything, those metal “wings” seem to be permanently fused to that side of the board, and the plastic tray underneath seems just as stuck.

I did not attempt to connect via the Bluetooth menu on my phone, I just opened it up because all BT functionality had been turned off at some point and I needed to toggle it back on again.

I am so sorry for the noobiness, I’m actually really embarrassed that I’m being outsmarted by it when it’s not even on.
 
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I think we're asynchronous (and I've updated the post a couple of times since initially putting it up)..... get it turned on and connected and it'll tell you if it needs a new cell or not (see voltage suggestions in prior post). See button operation in my last post.

To actually get the holder out out need to use a small flat-bladed screwdriver to pry between the rounded end of the plastic cell carrier and the metal part. It slides out of the metal part after a fashion toward your index finger in the picture. As I said before, it takes more force than you expect to get it out. Or you can push the plastic tray out from the other side by pressing it out with a coffee stirrer or such between the two little metal retention tabs on the side away from your index finger in the picture you just posted.
 
BEC said:
I think we're asynchronous..... get it turned on and connected and it'll tell you if it needs a new cell or not (see voltage suggestions in prior post). See button operation in my last post.

To actually get the holder out out need to use a small flat-bladed screwdriver to pry between the rounded end of the plastic cell carrier and the metal part. It slides out of the metal part after a fashion toward your index finger in the picture. As I said before, it takes more force than you expect to get it out. Or you can push the plastic tray out from the other side by pressing it out with a coffee stirrer or such between the two little metal retention tabs on the side away from your index finger in the picture you just posted.
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Definitely asynchronous. Don’t worry about it, Internet’s gotta internet and I’m going to bed soon.

I did figure out the tray by staring at that photo I posted, and I got it right when your notification came in. I ended up going for a straightened paper clip. Stubborn little thing, thanks for the help.

I’ll try replacing the battery and playing with it some more tomorrow, as I’m well past the newly-agreed-upon cutoff for “rocket time” in the evenings. Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll see an LED sometime tomorrow night.
 
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I need to go to bed, too.

Often it will power up when you slide the cell back in. It helps to have the app already open. You can then just "pull down" on the screen and the app will look for Minis (or Comps) to connect to and from there, it's pretty straightforward.

After I've been flying I usually do this just to see if I've forgotten to turn one of them off....
 
Power is turned on with a push button. If you slid something, that is not correct. Once you push the button, a green led will light up showing that there is power
 
The Wanderer has flown!

FlightSketch data returned 181 ft on a C11-3. The ejection was really well-timed, I don’t think we give this rocket/motor combination enough credit.

Problem though: I made what I think most would consider a rookie mistake by packing the parachute in the nose. I had thought that the jerk of ejection would pull it out and make it deploy, and I was wrong. Ejection was pretty gentle and the chute got stuck. No deployment.

With the chute in the nose, it’s obviously not subjected to aerodynamic forces that make it fully open, so the nose acts a bit like a chute release, except it doesn’t, you know, release. So one of the fillets cracked and the fin is bent out of alignment. I can upload photos when I start unpacking.

I’d be happy to start work on a repair, since this was my mistake, but if somebody who feels like they’re more qualified wants to do it, I’d be happy to pack it up and send it off as soon as is practical.

Full flight data also coming soon.
 
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Data here. Apparently I can’t give it a name at this point, which is a bummer.

The two uploads attributed to me are the same flight, somehow I uploaded it again when I came home and stumbled around the FlightSketch app trying to get the link to it.

https://flightsketch.com/flights/3678/
4E5BC6D0-E5B8-4CA9-820B-53502FC4D3D8.png

B9CA7D0B-7FE7-466D-B1BC-8CFEA2C8C43C.png

D23F1434-2F68-40D4-9D20-F284BD70C9A7.png

The total flight time and other derived figures are not accurate, the thing came down quick from the failed deployment I mentioned.

Awesome preflight photo:

80C7CC00-50DA-440A-B231-9B9FD67F99C0.jpeg
 
So here is the damage:

F0C40E35-1696-4514-A8CF-CA190A0A3333.jpeg


If I fiddle around with it, I can sometimes get it back so that the broken portions of the fillet touch, but I don’t know how it’s put together on the inside and I’d rather not mess with it repetitively. The fin did bend out of its normal alignment and I don’t know if it’s been weakened by that. I’d rather not work-harden it and have it snap like a soda can pop tab if I can avoid it.

What do we think I should do? Hang on to it and attempt a repair? Send it on to the next person? Return to builder or just somebody more qualified to work with these materials?
 
Fiberglass doesn't exactly work harden, but it does delaminate. You an see that by looking at the hinge point. If it's still translucent like the rest of the fin tab, then you're golden. If it's started turning white, then it's delaminating and fin replacement is probably the thing.

If it was my rocket, I'd mix up some structural epoxy (T-88 is my go-to, but 15 minute would be fine, as would any other molasses-consistency epoxy), paint all of the mating surfaces, squirt some into the holes where the fin tabs go, and squash it all together, making sure there's squeeze out on all sides. Wipe up the squeeze out and it should be fine.

That said, it's not my rocket so I don't want to foreclose anyone else's opinion.
 
boatgeek said:
Fiberglass doesn't exactly work harden, but it does delaminate. You an see that by looking at the hinge point. If it's still translucent like the rest of the fin tab, then you're golden. If it's started turning white, then it's delaminating and fin replacement is probably the thing.

If it was my rocket, I'd mix up some structural epoxy (T-88 is my go-to, but 15 minute would be fine, as would any other molasses-consistency epoxy), paint all of the mating surfaces, squirt some into the holes where the fin tabs go, and squash it all together, making sure there's squeeze out on all sides. Wipe up the squeeze out and it should be fine.

That said, it's not my rocket so I don't want to foreclose anyone else's opinion.
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I totally agree. I built that rocket and @boatgeek hit it right on the head as for the repair.
 
Sooner Boomer said:
The second one is one that I sent, before the "original" got mailed out. Krusty (Sasha) sent me a DVD a long time ago. He was selling kits. One of them was the "Ballistic Chicken" that I bought from him. I'll take it to Airfest this year. The missile pics and other stuff were bits and pieces I picked up going through the web at night instead of sleeping. Good to see it's still with the rocket!

Speaking of Airfest, it would be great if I could launch it again this year. Dave, you in on this, too?

@dhbarr and I last year at Airfest...
View attachment 528418
Click to expand...
No Airfest for me this year, I spent our rocket budget on getting the boys to the WSMC quals.
No Airfest for me next year either, because I need to take both of the boys to Austin for Internats.
Good problem to have, but I will miss the big stuff for a while.
 
dhbarr said:
No Airfest for me this year, I spent our rocket budget on getting the boys to the WSMC quals.
No Airfest for me next year either, because I need to take both of the boys to Austin for Internats.
Good problem to have, but I will miss the big stuff for a while.
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What about High Fronteer in Pawhuska?
 
gdjsky01 said:
Okay. Thank you for the info.
@shawn_rocket Do you need a PM with my address or? I am on Southern CA so if the rocket is here...
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Well it is close by, BUT it is not flyable. There is a broke TTW fin that needs to be repaired. The rocket is 100% fiberglass. @smstachwick was unsure of best technique, and I do fiberglass work almost daily. I was skipped to get it to him for a club flight, so we were just going to circle back to me for repairs, and test-flight.
 

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